Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne has suggested the recent mass destruction of fishing boats at the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex raises legal questions surrounding the government’s role in ensuring the safety of the fishing community.
“The government impliedly undertook that that would be literally a safe harbour. It was not,” the senior attorney told a media conference at the opposition leader’s Hincks Street office, flanked by Democratic Labour Party (DLP) vice-president Felicia Dujon and Senator Ryan Walters.
The opposition pressed the government to compensate fishermen and boat owners for losses sustained during Hurricane Beryl’s passage on Monday. Over 40 boats were sunk and hundreds more damaged in what the opposition figures describe as a preventable disaster.
According to Thorne, the assurance provided by the government for safe docking carries an implicit legal obligation to safeguard the boats from foreseeable harm.
The Christ Church South MP further suggested that the fisherfolk who sailed from Oistins to the harbour believed it to be a secure refuge amidst the hurricane.
“They put their boats in the only place that they felt they could. The alternative was to leave them at sea,” he said, noting that the situation raises questions about the government’s responsibility for failing to provide a genuinely safe haven.
“If the government had ignored the cricket [ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final] for a few hours, the government would have come up with a scheme to take those boats into the several open areas of Barbados,” Thorne said.
Dujon said the government needed to step up to support and be accountable in the face of the calamity.
“My visit to the Bridgetown Port yesterday was an eye-opener for me. It was very devastating,” she said. “Though the spirit of the fisherfolk was, you know, in high spirits, we have to understand that these are individuals that have lost their livelihood. And this is a very serious matter that we have to consider introspectively when we think about the basic needs of those individuals within our society.”
She added: “We place our votes in individuals to ensure that proper mechanisms are in place, particularly during times of natural disasters. So, no, we’re not saying that the government caused the hurricanes or that they had an impact on the hurricanes. What we are saying is that they did not prepare the way that they should,” Dujon argued. “And if you saw the brokenhearted men and women yesterday, you’d understand where I’m coming from. They have families, and have bills to pay, just like us. And how are they going to recuperate? We need policies. And right now, they need to be compensated.”
Dujon pointed to a lack of guidance and support from policymakers as a significant factor in the crisis.
“The reality is that policymakers were the ones to advise our fisherfolks on what is the best way to secure the vessels – and this was not done,” she said, expressing frustration over the government’s failure to provide adequate instructions and resources.
“This morning, we were seeing those damaged boats and those damaged vessels being hauled out. It tells us again that this administration does not want to take accountability. There’s no accountability in this government. And as a result, poor people, our civilians, our citizens, and the common man have to suffer because someone or some individuals did not think or believe that it was important enough to advise them.”
Dujon also attacked critics of fisherfolk, condemning what she called victim blaming. She contended that in the situation, they “did not have a choice”.
“And I want to make that very clear. What we’re seeing on social media — the blame or what we call the victim blaming of our fisherfolks needs to stop.”
She stressed the need for solidarity and support, urging the public not to turn their backs on those affected.
“We as a country have to understand that there is a difference between politics and governance,” she said. “And what we experience there is something. This is history; we had never experienced that before. And we need to understand that we need to support our fisherfolks. We need to support the common man.”
The DLP executive member called for a probe into the handling of the crisis, seeking accountability for the mismanagement that left the fisherfolk in such dire straits.
“We are calling for an investigation as to exactly what occurred to those fisherfolks who are left at the perils of this government and are suffering because of the mismanagement of this matter that occurred there,” she said. “The entire issue also has to focus on how we treat human rights in this country.”
Also calling for a rethinking of how society values and compensates those in essential industries, Dujon further noted that justice and accountability must guide government actions.
“And I believe that it’s important that when we think or even speak about compensation, it’s really a matter of justice. And what we saw and what taxpayers need to keep in mind when we compensate persons, it is [our] taxpayers’ monies that are paying for mismanagement and poor judgement of government policies,” she said.
She also called for a change in how society values and supports fishing and farming: “Too often we have neglected those industries, not only agriculture but the fishing industry, because we believe that those industries do not impact our society. And I believe that this experience will teach us something that we need to take over for generations to come.”
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